Stanley’s father is an inventor. To be a successful inventor you need three things: intelligence, perseverance, and just a little bit of luck. Stanley’s father is smart and has a lot of perseverance. Once he starts a project he will work on it for years, often going days without sleep. He just never has any luck.

Stanley’s great grandfather made a fortune in the stock market.

He lost his entire fortune when he was moving from New York to California. His stagecoach was robbed by the outlaw Kissin’ Kate Barlow. She didn’t actually kiss Stanley’s great-grandfather. She only kissed the men she killed. Instead, she robbed him and left him stranded in the middle of the desert.

Stanley’s great-great-grandfather was named Elya Yelnats. He was born in Latvia.

When he was fifteen years old he fell in love with Myra. Myra was fourteen, and her father would decide who she should be married to when she turned fifteen, Elya went to her father to ask for her hand, but so did Igor, the pig farmer. Igor was fifty-seven years old. Igor offered, “ I will trade you my fattest pig for your daughter.” “And what have you got?” Myra’s father asked Elya. “ A heart full of love,” said Elya. “ I’d rather have a fat pig,” said Myra’s father. Desperately, Elya went to see Madame Zeroni, an old Egyptian woman who lived on the edge of town. He had become friends with her. Elya told Madame Zeroni that he was in love with Myra, but Igor had offered to trade his fattest pig for her while Elya had nothing. Madame Zeroni thought it was a good thing because Elya was too young to get married and that Myra’s head was as empty as a flowerpot. Madame Zeroni told Elya that he should go to America like her son because that’s where his future lay. But Elya would hear none of that. He was fifteen. So against her better judgement, Madame Zeroni agreed to help him. She gave him a little runt. Then she showed him a mountain on the edge of the forest. She instructed him to take the little pig to the top of the mountain and let it drink from the stream. As the pig drank, Elya was to sing to it. She promised Elya that the pig would be fatter than any of Igor’s pigs on the day of Myra’s fifteenth birthday. If her plan succeeded, Elya would have to carry Madame Zeroni up the mountain because she too wanted to drink from the stream, and Elya also needed to sing the song to her while she was drinking. Madame Zeroni warned that if Elya failed to do this, he and his descendants would be doomed for all of eternity.

On the day of Myra’s fifteenth birthday, Elya’s pig weighed over fifty stones. But Igor’s pig was equally fine. Myra’s father didn’t know how to decide. Elya suggested that Myra should be one making the decision. So Myra was summoned, and when her dad told her to make a decision about her own future, she didn’t know what to do. Then she said that she would think of a number between one to ten, and she would marry whoever guessed the closest number.

After leaving Myra’s house, Elya wandered aimlessly through the town until he found himself down by the wharf. He saw a sign that read Deck Hand Wanted. Free Passage to America. He decided to jump on the opportunity and it wasn’t until the ship had cleared the harbor and was heading out across the Atlantic that he suddenly remembered his promise to carry Madame Zeroni up the mountain.

如果你覺得我的podcast對你的英文學習有幫助就請到Apple podcast 幫我按五顆星訂閱和分享。也可到李老師陪你探索英文世界的臉書和IG粉絲專頁按贊追縱或留言。那我們就下集見了。

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